Five years ago I was working for a restaurant owned by a local guy (Moe) who was expanding to a new location. He was excited and wanted me to work between both location.

I didn't care as this meant I would get more hours, and he said it came with a $2.00 raise.

I was thrilled, as at the time I would be making more there than at my other part-time job and I liked my co-workers better. So I left my first job and started my new duties.

After the first pay check came rolling in I noticed that I wasn't getting overtime and I also wasn't getting the increased wages. I immediately confronted Moe.

He said that he never said that and because it was a different location so the time worked wasn't applicable for overtime; each was accounted for independently.

I am not a lawyer but said ok accepted my fate till I found a new job. Two weeks later I got a full-time at a call center. I had three weeks till their training class started. I signed up for extra shifts at the new location and was going to save up some money. We had been expecting a snowstorm but weren't sure how bad it was gonna be.

Now the owner had a contract to cater for the local jail as they didn't have a kitchen on premises. Moe called me and wanted me to drive the 40 minutes in the snow in my 2-wheel drive car to the restaurant that he lived a-half mile from.

I politely told him no, and that it would be suicidal for me to even attempt it.

He told me, "Either you go or I will replace you with someone who will."

I said, "Okey-dokey have a good day."

I immediately called my co-workers and told them what had happened. Two were snowed in and had no way out. One didn't even own a car; I was his ride in. Our Kitchen manager was out of town (her mother was sick). We all had a good laugh and I went to play Mass Effect 2.

Later I found out that the owner had a 4-wheel drive SUV and stood a better chance to get there than any of us, but since it was Sunday and that was a holy day he couldn't work.

I don't who made the meal that day but I would like to imagine he had to do it himself, in the cold, while asking forgiveness.

I'm fairly certain that what he did to your pay was illegal under US law. You'd have to check verbal contract laws on your state regarding the pay raise, but if you were issued a single check, and the pay was coming from the same employer tax ID number, than the combined hours count towards overtime wages. Now if he owns two wholy separate businesses, with two separate tax IDs, and you received two separate checks... that's two jobs sadly. But that doesn't sound like what's happening here. So if it hasn't been that long, you should report the circumstances to someone.